The present invention relates generally to the field of networked control and monitoring systems, such as those used in industrial automation applications. More particularly, the invention relates to a technique for conducting real time monitoring operations in a control and monitoring system, to display information for a user based upon data collected in real time and descriptive of both operational parameters and particular components and their individual configurations.
A wide range of systems are known and have been developed for conducting local and remote monitoring operations in industrial control applications. In conventional systems, gages, meters, and the like were situated at specific locations corresponding to loads to which electrical power was applied. Such loads might include electric motors, valves, actuators, and so forth. Data is collected from the monitoring equipment by visual inspection. Such monitoring devices have also traditionally been provided in centralized control rooms where operators or technicians periodically inspect key parameter levels, typically visually.
Increasingly, industrial control systems have been networked to provide for a wide variety of remote sensing and control functionalities. Networked components can be actuated remotely, and sensed parameters can be accessed and downloaded to monitoring and control stations. However, such systems still typically rely upon dedicated readout devices which are adapted to provide visual indications of parameter levels, with little or no configurability for the various components of the networked system. For more advanced systems which may have allowed for monitoring of a number of different components, prior knowledge of the component location, the component function, the component type, the component settings, and so forth were generally needed to adequately access and evaluate sensed parameter signals or operational status feedback.
There is a need in the field for improved techniques for remotely monitoring a plurality of components in a networked system in real time. There is a particular need, at present, for a system which provides a straight forward, intuitive real time monitoring feature in which components of various types and configurations can be monitored on a single format and based upon data acquired from the components.